Wastewater infrastructure spending fails to keep up with needs
“We have got some tough decisions, and challenging financial decisions, ahead of us to make sure our water assets continue to be maintained.”
The review would highlight where the most urgent work was needed, said Boglary, who called for City Water’s profits to be fed straight back into the business rather than being filtered through the council.
“City Water does make a profit which, in my opinion, should be used for City Water. That’s why it’s raised – to cover the costs,” she said.
In 2023-24, the last year City Water reported, the company had an after-tax profit of $8.7 million. The year before that, it recorded a $15 million loss. In 2020/21, it raked in $20 million.
The average amount budgeted for wastewater infrastructure maintenance over the past 10 years has been roughly $12.5 million, though this has seen an uptick recently, with $28 million budgeted this year and $20 million the year before.
A council spokesperson did not directly reply when asked whether an annual spend of $35 million was now required to meet projected needs, but conceded the system was under pressure.
The Southern Redland Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant.Credit: CLEARPRO
“Much of the Redlands Coast’s water and wastewater infrastructure was initially commissioned in the 1970s-1980s and, coupled with high population growth in the city over the past decade, some of this infrastructure is now reaching renewal or replacement age, or needing to be expanded,” a spokesperson said.
“This is not unique to Redland City.”
The review was a proactive step to get ahead of issues the system might face, the spokesperson said, adding the council was not getting enough money from developers to cover the costs of their infrastructure needs.
Inside a sewage-pumping station in Cleveland.Credit: Redland City Council
The spokesperson called on the state to increase the cap on how much councils could receive from big developers, saying: “The current cap is well below the actual costs to service.”
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